Shades of Twilight by Linda Howard

and Webb strolled in. He looked tired, and he’d removed both coat and tie, the coat slung over his shoulder and hanging from one crooked finger. The top two buttons on his shirt were open. Roanna’s heart gave its customary jump when she saw him. Even when he was tired and disheveled, he looked like heaven. The sickness roiled in her stomach again at the thought of what Jessie was doing to him.
    â€œAre you still eating?” he teased with mock amazement, green eyes twinkling.
    â€œGot to keep my strength up,” she said, striving for her usual flippancy, but she couldn’t quite achieve it. There was a somberness in her tone that she couldn’t hide, and Webb gave her a sharp glance.
    â€œWhat’ve you done now?” he asked, taking a glass down from the cabinet and opening the refrigerator door to pour himself some iced tea.
    â€œNothing unusual,” she assured him, and even managed a wry, crooked smile. “I opened my big mouth at lunch, and both Grandmother and Aunt Gloria are mad at me.”
    â€œSo what did you say this time?”
    â€œWe were talking about cars, and I said that I wanted one of the Pontiac Grand Pricks.”
    His broad shoulders heaved as he controlled a spasm of laughter, turning it into a cough. He dropped into the chair beside her. “My God, Ro.”
    â€œI know.” She sighed. “It just popped out. Aunt Gloria made one of her snide remarks about the way I eat, and I wanted to get her goat.” She paused. “It worked.”
    â€œWhat did Aunt Lucinda do?”
    â€œShe sent me from the table. I haven’t seen her since.” She picked at the roll, reducing it to a pile of crumbs, untilWebb’s strong hand suddenly covered hers and stilled the movements.
    â€œHad you eaten anything before you left the table?” he asked, and there was a stern tone in his voice now.
    She made a face, knowing what was coming. “Sure. I had a roll and some tuna.”
    â€œA whole roll? How much tuna?”
    â€œWell, probably not an entire roll.”
    â€œMore than you’ve eaten of this one?”
    She eyed the demolished bread on her plate, as if judiciously weighing each crumb, and was relieved to be able to say, “More than that.”
    It wasn’t much more, but more was more. His expression told her he wasn’t fooled, but he let that slide for now. “All right. How much tuna? How many bites?”
    â€œI didn’t
count
them!”
    â€œMore than two?”
    She tried to remember. She knew she’d taken a couple of bites just to show Aunt Gloria that her verbal swipe had fallen short of the mark. She might try to evade the truth, but she wouldn’t lie outright to Webb, and he knew it, so he would continue to pin her down with explicitness. With a little sigh she said, “About two, I guess.”
    â€œDid you eat anything afterward? Until now, that is?”
    She shook her head.
    â€œRo.” He turned his chair toward hers and put his arm around her thin shoulders, hugging her to him. His heat and strength enveloped her the way it always had. Roanna burrowed her untidy head against that broad shoulder, bliss overtaking her. When she’d been young, Webb’s hugs had been a haven for a terrified, unwanted little girl. She was older now, and the quality of her delight had changed. There was a heady, faintly musky scent to his skin that made her heart beat faster, and made her want to cling to him.
    â€œYou have to eat, baby,” he said cajolingly, but with a firm undertone. “I know you get upset and lose yourappetite, but I can tell that you’ve lost even more weight. You’re going to damage your health if you don’t start eating more.”
    â€œI know what you’re thinking,” she charged, lifting her head from his shoulder to scowl at him. “But I don’t make myself throw up or anything like that.”
    â€œMy God, how could you?